Very upset with ABS

[upahill]

Hi all,

Just wanted to vent... I tried to list my scope set up on ABS yesterday and have become increasingly annoyed and offended by their team. My advert has now been removed so its kind of convinced me to keep my setup which I suppose is a good thing.

Have just sent a rather long email them to them highlighting my concerns, some of which are incredibly serious (to do with data protection) - I was going to copy it here to alert other users, but in fairness will allow them a chance to respond first.

Has anyone else had problems using the site, in particular the interrogation process when signing up?

[Sammyb]

No. Its been fine for me. I signed up and sold a few things on there no problem. The administrator guy (can't remember his name) was really helpful when I thought I had a bogus potential buyer.

[crashtestdummy]

on the contrary,i found setting up really easy and have sold a 200p on there and a few eyepieces and filters and bought a few eyepieces there too.did they refuse your listing or remove it or have you had problems setting up and inserting an advert?

[John]

I can't say I have had any problems with it. I've bought and sold many items there over the years and both the website and the transactions (which are not the responsibility of the site of course) were fine.

They have had some problems with rogue sellers / buyers there so I guess they have tightened up the joining process, which is their perogative.

[dtr42]

nope have put a good few adverts on it all very quick and painless , cant think of any interrogation by the abs team

[nytecam]

I've used Astro Buy & Sell for some years without any problems - sorry to hear about yours but hopefully resolved.

[upahill]

I fully commend their efforts to prevent bogus sellers. Its something every website needs to do, but in the process of doing so instead of asking simple questions for verification I have been accused of lying about my gender, lying about my location, lying about my name and despite giving perfectly valid responses I have still have had my advert removed.

I'm not actually that bothered about the advert being removed, part of my email was to request they remove all of my information from their records. Its their data protection policies which quite frankly scare me. As a web designer of 15+ years, I know a fair bit about security, data protection, website conformity of particular guidelines etc and their lack of appreciation for them is shocking.

I wont provide the exact happenings yet, I still think its fair for them to respond to me first - but I sincerely hope I can get all my contact information removed from their site - sharpish!

Its a shame, the site is great, provides an invaluable service, but its archaic.

[ronin]

They have had a fair amount of trouble with people defrauding others. They clamped down a few months back.

Problem is if it is easy for you to place an ad it is easy for a fraudster to do so.

They have several warnings about an assortment of names and people from here have been caught out.

Suspect it is a case of you cannot have it easy for you and dificult for others. You want to sell it easily, others want protection. It could be something as simple as you email address @whatever.com, is used often by fraudsters. You could just live in a town that a few claim to be in.

I have opened an account that concerns money and for some reason it will never let me on forst time, using either Firefox or IE, always the second attempt. This had been noticed and I have been informed of these "failed" attempts. Have explained that it is me, there is something strange and at this time no problem.

You may have just completed something that rings an alarm, or they could just tripple check every 100th person and you are that one. I got that when visiting Canada once, I was one randomly selected for a deeper questioning.

[sologuitarist61]

Sold (and bought) quite a few bits and bobs of off AB&S with no trouble at all.

[dtr42]

ok had a look at their register page, it asks for an email and a second email addie, your name, your alias name, your city and country all the usual stuff .

[upahill]

Granted everything I did should have set off alarm bells.

I mask my IP address for my own Privacy, right now for example my IP address would resolve as somewhere in Seattle - so that should have set alarm bells off.

My surname doesnt match my surname in my email - I took my wifes surname when we got married, so again fair play to them for picking it up.

I registered for an account because I couldnt log in with my old account (I now know its because I miss-spelled by username.) - 10/10 for spotting the duplicate signup.

-----

But its how they handled it that has upset me, and its the other concerns which I have about the site which I have informed them off. Its not really a gripe so much as an upsetting experience.

[ronin]

Open a new tab and pull this up:

IP Location

You may find that your IP address gives somewhere different to Monmouth for you, in which case they could get suspicious.

[upahill]

Open a new tab and pull this up:

IP Location

You may find that your IP address gives somewhere different to Monmouth for you, in which case they could get suspicious.

It does, by design. Not concerned that they were concerned, just in how they handled it. Its a difficult thing to explain without posting copies of the convo, like I said - im just venting! lol

PS: Dallas today!

[rory]

perhaps they dont like the fact that youve a masked ip address ,combined with the other reasons you mention . theres been some fraud on the site ( trust me i know first hand) and they are perhaps twichty with any discrepancies ?

either way ,i hope you get a possitive outcome .

[dtr42]

Granted everything I did should have set off alarm bells.

maybe thats why they have re-acted as they did.your internet behaviour would look suspicious to most web sites and even you agree with that . again i do not know what theyre emails to you said so cant comment. hope you get it sorted.

[carastro]

I've had no problems with UKABS, bought and sold lots of stuff on there, and like others have said found the administrator extremely helpful. I think it's a one man band - I don't think it's a group of administrators but I could be wrong, and he has set up this very useful site costing us nothing at his own expense.

Considering all the work he has to do including spotting fraud, I think he needs a commendation.

I am sure it's a case of misunderstanding, but I guess he has to be careful because of those fraudsters out there.

Carole

[upahill]

Its only suspicious if you have a predetermined assumption.

The reaction was fine, im *glad* they questioned me, the problem wasn't in the action, just the method.

To assume that someone is a fraudster *because* they mask their IP address is a bit primitive though, my bank doesnt even mind when I sign in to my online banking from seemingly 'Russia' and then use a cash point in Hereford 20 minutes later.

Its like stopping someone at an airport because they fit a 'profile' (even if its a somewhat prejudiced profile) - stopping them isnt a problem, and most people would react favorably to it - but if the first thing you did was start accusing them of lieing then its a different matter.

They created the assumption (in good faith) and then refused to stand corrected.

[Pig]

I would think you were a fraudster if I was them, it sounds like all your info provided to them was suspect at best. I am surprised you expected a flowery response.

[upahill]

All of my information was accurate though.

As for my IP address resolving to a different place - well, frankly, so what - an IP address is a location on a Network, not a location in the real word.

Just because your ISP allows geo-location doesnt mean its 100% guaranteed to be accurate. BT usually connects me to the Birmingham node anyway - which is 80+ miles away from me. To think that an IP address gives an accurate location on its own is pretty crazy.

[Pig]

So why mask it ?

[upahill]

I like my privacy, a rotating IP address makes me less susceptible to any hacks/spyware, I get less spam, sites which track usage for targeted advertising often don't get what they are looking for. But mainly just because I can.

But, my IP address isnt *masked* per se - it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to look it up properly.

If I was using a proxy which was a known proxy for fraudulent users then I could understand it, but this is in fact a rather expensive private VPN.

Anyway, the point is not that I was flagged as a 'potential' fraudulent user, I dont really care about that, and after explaining myself I think they understood. My issue was the manner in which they conducted their questioning, and the problems with their data protection policies.

[Pig]

Ok

[John]

If you have an issue with the website I'd suggest that don't use it.

When you are running something like that in your own time and on a "not for profit" basis, you are not going to have a lot of time to use "kid gloves" on someone who is supplying what looks like a dodgy details.

Paul (who runs UK AB&S and is a member here) has my admiration and gratitude that he keeps the site running for the benefit of 99% of the folks that use it.

Sorry that it did not work out for you but there are other places you can sell your stuff.

[upahill]

If you have an issue with the website I'd suggest that don't use it.

I agree, having attempted to use it I have decided that it is not something I would not like to risk, and as such asked Paul to remove all my information, posts and photographs.

When you are running something like that in your own time and on a "not for profit" basis, you are not going to have a lot of time to use "kid gloves" on someone who is supplying what looks like a dodgy details.

Again, I wasn't asking for kid gloves. But despite providing my home address, answering all questions, and conforming to the rules of the website it became apparent the inherent flaws in the judgement process.

Paul (who runs UK AB&S and is a member here) has my admiration and gratitude that he keeps the site running for the benefit of 99% of the folks that use it.

I admire anyone who dedicates their time, knowledge and effort to anything such as SGL or ABS, I appreciate how it benefits the community as a whole, and how invaluable someone like Paul's efforts are. My issue is not with the Man himself, but the process that has formed for handling data on the website. Entirely beyond his control/remit no doubt.

Sorry that it did not work out for you but there are other places you can sell your stuff.

I realise this, again my issue was not with not being *allowed* to use the site, or even judged as being fraudulent.

[Pig]

Im sure its frustrating for you - But I think they acted in the best intrerests of the majority, unfortunately that put you in a no progress position, where I have no doubt you will remain. So it best to put it down to an experience gained